Pelagia Trattoria

Pelagia Trattoria serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. This Italian spot has a wine list and a cigar list for patrons. The dinner menu includes appetizers, salads, pizzas, pastas, seafood and side dishes. Some favorite starting dishes include octopus cured with garlic and mint and the crunchy stuffed olives with three meats.
 
For about $25 you can chow down on the grilled black grouper dish with marinated eggplant, celery root puree and lemon caper sauce. The pan-seared sea scallops are also a hit at $29. Homemade pastas are mostly under $20, with the exception of the lobster tagliolini.
 
There's a variety of surf and turf at Pelagia, and you can dine on lamb, beef, sea bass, lobster, veal, calamari, ahi tuna, steak, grouper, chicken breast and more. Vegetarians have a few options for meatless dishes like spinach and potato gnocchi, veggie pizzas and salads. 

Side dishes are $6 and include wilted spinach, garlic mashed potatoes, roasted fingerling potatoes with rosemary, the vegetable of the day and crispy polenta frits. 

Chef Fabrizio Schenardi features different recipes on the Pelagia Trattoria website so you can bring some Italian flavor into your own kitchen.

Private dining at Pelagia is a great place to enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner with friends. You can rent a private space for 8 to 20 guests for any occasion. Large groups, such as parties with up to 90 guests, can be accommodated if arranged in advance. The restaurant also caters. Contact the restaurant for more specific details.

Business people in the area may enjoy the $9.95 express lunch at Pelagia.   Pelagia was one of Zagat's America's Top Restaurant of 2009. You can make a reservation now from the comfort of your own computer.

- by Jessica Bates, Tampa Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Jessica Bates

Jessica is a freelance journalist residing in lovely southern California. She holds a bachelor's degree in English and journalism. She writes for a green living publication, which she thoroughly enjoys. Once upon a time she was an editorial board member for Steel Toe Books choosing poetry manuscripts for publication.